Snatched
by truemizzie
Summary: Ron is caught.  Dean is with him.  DH SPOILERS.


**Author's Notes:** This is a semi-companion piece to my piece, Fixed, in which Dean explains to the boys what happened while he was with the Snatchers. In it, Ron gets especially emotional at the mention of Dean's half-sister. This partially explains why, as well as introducing an idea I had that Ron and Dean may have met on their journeys. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**Snatched**

Dean sat against the pole, absently pulling at the robes around his wrist which bound him to it. He was alone. They had only him, Ted Tonks having been able to Disapparate at his first chance when the Apparition Wards went down. He would find help. Or, at least, he would try his hardest to. Apparently, though, he had not found help yet, and Dean had been stuck against that pole for over a week. Apart from the torture, he spent all of his time tied up, waiting for something to happen. As selfish as he felt thinking it, he wished that there was someone with him, just to keep him company. To his amazement, his wish was answered. A boy he couldn't see in the darkness was being dragged near him by two Snatchers, shouting all the time. They silenced him with the threat of the Cruciatus Curse. He obeyed. They tied him up next to Dean, who didn't dare to look in their direction for fear of punishment. Their shoulders were connected.

"Who are you?" one asked as he tied.

"Stan Shunpike." Dean couldn't help but recognize the voice.

"Blood status?"

"Pureblood."

"Blood traitor?" Pause.

"Never."

"We'll be checking that. Won't we, Orpheus?"

"Aye, we will…and we'll be back soon…"

"You just stay here. And…don't try to hard to leave. Just…make yourself at home."

The Snatchers laughed and walked away, leaving the two boys next to each other. Dean inched even closer to the other captive, so that their knees were now touching. At the contact, the new prisoner jumped, but let out no more sound than a sharp intake of breath. Dean slowly turned his head into the other's ear.

"It's Dean," He told him in a whisper. It was the first time he had spoken in days. He was surprised at how sore his voice felt.

"I thought you were in hiding!" the new voice hissed back.

"How do you know that?"

"We heard you…Harry, Hermione and…" the prisoner trailed off.

"Where are they?" There was a pause as the prisoner glanced towards the out-of-view Snatchers.

"I shouldn't say."

"Why aren't they here, too?"

"We got separated." Dean nodded at the vague answer.

"They'll be back pretty soon," he told the prisoner, referring to the Snatchers. "They're stupid, but quick."

"I don't doubt it."

"Why didn't you tell them your name? You're a Pureblood."

"I'm a blood traitor. That's just as bad as you." Pause. "Not that you're bad, I mean-"

"Nah. I get it. Don't worry."

"How long have they had you?"

"Dunno. A little over a week, I suppose."

"And…are they…are they bad ones?"

Dean did not answer. His friend took a deep breath and gave a loud sigh.

"Ron-" Dean stopped instantly after saying the name, not wanting to give his friend away. "You need to get out of here." Ron did not answer, but looked at Dean. He backed away a bit, unable to see Dean's face from so close. Dean began to turn his head away.

"No. Look at me." Dean did. "Dean…?"

His face looked destroyed. His right eye was completely black while his mouth had cuts surrounding it. His cheeks were bruised and his nostrils had stains of dark red drying on them. Ron investigated Dean's face with a disgusted look on his own.

"I'll be okay," Dean whispered to him. "None of these were caused by magic. They can be healed."

"But they still happened. Dean…what did they do to you?"

"Mostly Cruciatus."

"But…they hit you…too..."

"A bit, yeah, after they got tired." Dean noticed as Ron gagged slightly.

"We'll both get out of here…" Ron checked the Snatchers again. "…but we'll need a plan."

"It's okay…Ted Tonks is looking for help for me. He'll get it soon enough. _You_ need to get out _now."_

"Why me?"

"Because…they'll…Ron, just get out of here. Before they figure out who you are." Ron stared at Dean incredulously.

"What do you mean? Dean, what did they do to you? Tell me!" The last sentence was said in a hiss.

"S'not what they did to me." Silence.

"Then who?"

"Brianna."

"Who?"

"My half-sister."

"What did they do to her?"

"They…I can't say…"

"Dean, please!"

"No…just forget about it."

"Dean…you're scaring me…what did they do to her?"

But before Dean could answer, the Snatchers had returned to view. Dean could feel Ron tensing up next to him.

"Get yourself out. I'll be fine," Dean whispered to him. Ron seemed terrified. In fact, Ron had grown rather fidgety. He didn't dare to look at him, though, not while the Snatchers were around. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his. Ron had untied his bonds, and was trying to help Dean. Dean assisted the action as best he could, and finally, both boys were untied, but still sitting against the poles. To Dean's surprise, Ron grasped his hand.

"Disapparate," he muttered, an eye still on the Snatchers. Dean was still taken aback by the gesture, but squeezed Ron's hand in answer.

_You know we can't, _was what he was saying, but Ron squeezed back harder.

"On my count," he continued from the corner of his mouth. Dean then waited, wondering what Ron was planning on doing. But soon he realized it. Ron was not only watching the Snatchers, but listening to what they were going to do.

"They say the real Stan Shunpike's going to come down here," the first had one said.

"On the Knight Bus?"

"Nah, got that privilege taken away from him. Bus is gone. Destroyed."

"You wanna take down the wards?"

"'right."

The Snatcher began to perform the spell, and as he did, Ron asked Dean:

"Have you got a wand?"

"No."

"Damn." The tone in Ron's voice was not one of fear, but of annoyance. "Help me out with this, would you?" He instructed Dean, and the grasp of their hands tightened. Finally, Ron began to count. "Three…"

The Snatcher was beginning an incantation.

"Two…"

The Snatcher had stopped speaking, and looked to the other for approval.

"One…"

There was a loud "popping" noise and Stan Shunpike had appeared next to the Snatchers.

"Go!"

Dean felt the familiar pull of Apparition. For some reason, though, they weren't moving as quickly as usual. Dean got the feeling that Ron didn't know quite where to go, and frankly, neither did Dean. Just away. He decided that the best place to go was somewhere unexpected and out of the way. He thought of a forest Ted had taken him to. A forest right near a Godric's Hollow…he led Ron there…

The two fell apart in the middle of the forest, and Ron immediately began muttering curse words under his breath. At first Dean had thought it was because he had no wand, but eventually realized that Ron was staring at his hand. Ron noticed Dean watching him.

"I keep splinching myself" he explained, showing Dean his two missing fingernails. Soon after, though, Ron stood up, a wand in his hand.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked.

"Stole it from one of the Snatchers. It was in his pocket, easy to get to. Sorry about the detour." Dean rolled his eyes. That's what had taken so long. He watched as Ron performed some protective spells on the location. "I would've gotten you one, too, but…" he didn't seem to want to blame Dean for pulling them there.

"Sorry…" Dean murmured guiltily. "It's alright, though, I don't need one much. I just need to find Ted from here on."

"Alright…d'you suppose he'll know we're here?"

"We stayed here once. I reckon he'll check it out soon enough."

"Glad to hear it. So," Ron began as he sat down opposite of Dean. His face was serious. "Are you going to tell me what they did to your sister?"

"Half-sister," Dean corrected.

"Seems to me that wouldn't make much difference."

"No," Dean admitted. "It doesn't."

"So?"

Dean sighed. "Ron, stop asking me about it, okay." Ron shrugged, a gesture which annoyed Dean, but he still replied:

"Okay." Ron glanced around. "Too bad we don't have a tent or something." Dean knew he was just trying to make conversation. He asked a question that had been begging him since he saw Ron.

"So…have you not been back to Hogwarts?"

"No. Not since Vol-"

"Stop!" Ron obeyed. He almost looked surprised that he had said the name himself.

"How come?"

"Don't say the name. It's…taboo, I guess. Traceable."

"Oh. Fine with me. Hate the dumb name anyway."

"Yeah." Dean took a deep breath. Ron knew he would continue his question. "So…have you not heard anything? About the kids at school, I mean?"

"You mean about Seamus?"

"S'pose so."

"I'm afraid not." While disappointed, Dean was amazed at Ron's newfound tact. "But-" Dean perked up, "I do know that he's there. Which is a good thing."

"Yeah, it is. How do you know he's there for sure?"

"Marauder's Map," Ron explained all too freely. "Shows you where everybody is in Hogwarts. He's on there. They've all spent some time in detentions, though. We heard some things about what the detentions were like, but at least he's still there, right?" Dean sighed. Tact gone.

"Idiot wanted to come with me," he told Ron, whose eyes widened. "His mum told him he couldn't. I won't lie…wouldn't have minded if he did." He paused. "Is that a dumb thing, d'you think?" Ron considered this with surprising speed.

"No," he told Dean. "I'd want Harry with me." The words seemed to bother Ron as he said them. "I suppose we're both just selfish. So…how long do you think it'll take Mr. Tonks to get out here?"

"Quit worrying," Dean told him, a grin beginning on his face. "I wouldn't be surprised if he checked here every day. 'Sides, we're safe here."

"Where're we going to go when he finds us?"

_"You'll_ go home."

"And you won-?" Ron began. "Oh…sorry…"

"Trust me. I keep doing it, too." Ron remained silent at this. His face had a clear look of guilt etched on it.

"It's stupid that you can't go back to school." Dean sighed.

"Wouldn't want to, anyway. Not the way the school is right now."

"Yeah…but at least it's safe-"

"No, Ron, it's not. It's not safe at all. Not anymore."

"Look, Dean…the three of us…we're going to get us all out of this." For some reason, Ron seemed to just be realizing this. Dean didn't question it.

"I believe it. Still, I don't think it'll change too much."

"What do you mean?"

"Even with the big guy gone, there'll always be people who don't like me. Think I'm just a Mudblood. A thief."

"But you're not. You're a Wizard-a really good one!"

"But not a Pureblood one."

"But you're better than loads of Pureblooded Wizards! Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle…me…"

"Ron-"

"No, it's true! I don't mind, much-"

"Really, Ron-"

"Besides!" Dean stopped as Ron straightened up. "I'm good at other stuff. Keep in mind that _I'm_ the one with the good looks." And they laughed. They both laughed, momentarily forgetting everything that was happening around them. All the prejudice disappeared as the two criminals spent their time together, joking around some more before they decided to rest. The next morning, Ted Tonks would come, taking one to the safety of a home and the other back into the wilderness, in an attempt to protect him from any further harm.

But, afterwards, neither would speak of their time together, as a request of Dean's. He didn't want to be worried about by anyone, didn't want anyone to find out where he had been on his adventures and the confessions he had made. Ron would make up his own story of events. No one would know why Ron and Dean now seemed to share some secret understanding about what the Snatchers were and what they could and were willing to do. Finally, no one would really know until Dean himself told them what happened to his sister, although Ron would have figured it out. Only he would decide to keep the information to himself. He would know that Dean wasn't yet ready to discuss it until he brought it up to be discussed. Ron would respect that decision.


End file.
